Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-01
INCREASE THE RAIN FALL.
How 1t Gan Be Done by Flowing the
Ground and Making Tanks.
HENRIETTA, TEX April %, 1887.

How 1t Gan Be Done by Flowing the
Ground and Making Tanks.
HENRIETTA, TEX, April %, 1887.
| To the Editor of the Gazette.
Referring to that very unpleasant sub
! iect, the late drouth, of which so much
has been written and said, and which to
say the least, was great misfortune, and
caused not little suffering in parts of
our great state; also referring to the late
rains of which we see and read about.
| The rivers throughout the state are ran
! ing "bank FULL" carrying the Water!out OF
the state to mtngle with the waters of the
mighty ocean, where it certainly is not
needed. / would suggest to the good
| people of our state through the columns
of your valuable paper, that they make
an effort to hold some of this water that
is now and will be running waste.
If a little effort in this direc-
ton were made drOuths would
in my opinion soon be a thing of the past.
| There is scarcely q section of land in Cen
trail, Western or Northwest Texas but
what has almost natural tank upon it,
put there by nature. Now, if We will Just
assist nature little by digging and dam
ming up little, see Wnat an immense
amount of water we would have scattered
all over the state, which would not only
be useful for stock purposes, but would
supply all with as abundance Of fish and
at the same be the means Of giving Us
more regular rains. 1t is well known
fact that water draws moisture and in
creases the rainfall. II not fact, there
are many who believe in this theory and
claim they have good cause for doing so.
Be this as it may, the cost Of the tank or
pond would be but trifle, and if all who
own land would enter into the work with
the right spirit | firmly believe none
would regret the little work done and
money spent. They would be amply paid
by having water convenient for their stock
and could well afford to take the chances
on any good the tank system might do in
the way of increasing the rainfall.
A man with team, plow and scr&per
will make a good tank in from three to
ten days, d great deal, of course, depend
ing on the lay OF the land, the character
of the soil, ETC., and there is no one but
what can spare few days during the
season for such work as this. Railroad
companies and others owning lands in
large tracts could and should Join
in this work. They should not stand still
and leave the development OF the country
TO the poor settler, and it is the opinion
OF the writer that II this matter was, or
could be, properly placed before the state
and railroad officials, action would soon
begin The average cost of making tanks
would not be over S25 each, aud it is safe
to predict that the state and railroad
companies who own the land, and na-
turally have desire to see it settled upon,
could sell section with good tank Of
water on it for an advance enough to more
than pay the cost of making the tank,
hence, the railway companies and state
and land owners would not be out Of
pocket ct all, as any expense incurred in
work of this kind would be added
to the present price of the land.
Ia this way q great deal Of the water that
falls during the rainy reason could be re-
tanned in the country. The result would
be that every tank made would assist the
stock interest in the west, which would
naturally lead to farming, and In few
years the country would be ploughed up
and the soil would then retain the rain
fall. AS it is now, the lain runs OFF and
out of the country as it does off the roof
of house, SO to speak, the prairie being
hard and dry. II the land were cult
waited it would -cetain the moisture, and
drouths would be ancient history.
In order to secure rain we must nave